Interesting Facts - Automobiles

Accident

 

For every 50 miles driven in an automobile, a person has a 1 in a million chance of being killed in a motoring accident.

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Autocar 

In 1906 a car known as the Autocar was manufactured in the United States with a new invention-headlights (they burned kerosene). The Autocar, however, lacked another important accessory, the steering wheel. The driver directed the vehicle by means of a stick-like shaft situated to the right of the driver's seat.

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 Cost

In 1924 a Ford automobile cost $265.

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 Horn

Most American automobile horns beep in the key of F.

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Inventions

The Buick, first automobile manufactured by the General Motors Corporation, was actually built by a man named David Buick. Buick, a plumber by trade, also invented a process whereby porcelain could be annealed onto iron, hence making possible the production of the white porcelain bathtub.

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License Fee

No two-cycle engines are allowed in Singapore. The license fee for a new car is low, about $5.00, but as the vehicle gets older, this fee increases. When the automoblie reaches 8 years old, it is no longer allowed on the streets. This is opposite of the license-fee structure in the U.S. While strict, Singapore's auto law has virtually wiped out air pollution in the country. It has also created a booming auto parts export business for companies like www.directfitautoparts.com. They snap up unsold auto parts inventories on older models and then resell the parts to other countries where the cars are still on the road and plentiful.

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Most Cars

In 1950 the United States had 70 percent of all the automobiles, buses, and trucks in the entire world.

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Price

The price of the average American automobile doubled during the ten-year period between 1968 and 1978.

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Racing

The first automobile race ever seen in the United States was held in Chicago in 1895. The track ran from Chicago to Evanston. The winner was J. Frank Duryea, whose average speed was 71.5 miles per hour.

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Taxi

The high roofs of London taxicabs were originally designed to keep gentlemen from knocking off their top hats as they entered and left the vehicles.

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Theft

In 1905 the Bosco Company of Akron, Ohio, marketed a "collapsible Rubber Automobile Driver." The figure, deflated and kept under the seat when not in use, was a kind of dummy intended to scare thieves away when the car was parked.